"Jan is certainly an eager beaver. Any time there's work to be done, she's the first to say she'll help." Easy does it!: Be very careful! / Don't do anything too fast or too hard! A: "I'm going to move the table just a little further from the window." B: "Easy does it! If you move too fast, you might knock over the plant!" an egghead: a very intelligent person. "Jake didn't make very good grades in school, but his sister was a real egghead." elbow grease: hard work; effort. "Yes, the car is pretty dirty, but it'll look nice again with a little elbow grease." every other _____ : alternately; omitting the second one in each group of two. "In your essays, please write on every other line. That will make the essays much easier to read." far-fetched: difficult to accept; difficult to believe. "That story's pretty far-fetched. Nobody's going to believe it." feel blue: feel sad and depressed. "I'm feeling blue because I haven't had any mail except bills for a long, long time." fire someone: dismiss someone from a job because of poor performance. "If you continue to be late for work, the company will fire you." feel puny: feel unwell, ill. "Ted was feeling puny yesterday, so he decided not to go to work." 54 Copyright © 2002 by MO Media. You have been licensed one copy of this document for personal use only. Any other reproduction or redistribution is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved. fender-bender: automobile accident. "Traffic was really slow on the freeway this morning because of a fender-bender in one of the westbound lanes." for ages: for a very long time. "Where's Marie? I haven't seen her for ages." get going: leave. "Look at the time! I'd better get going!" get it: understand something (often negative). "I don't get it. What do you mean?" get a kick out of something: find something amusing. "I really get a kick out of listening to children talk. They say some very funny things." get lost!: go away "I wish he'd get lost and stop bothering me. I don't want to talk to him!" get on one's nerves: irritate someone; make someone upset. "I know you like that song, but it's getting on my nerves. Can you play something else?" get a move on: hurry "If you don't want to be late, you'd better get a move on." get one's wires crossed: be confused or mistaken about something. A: "Bill said there was a meeting this morning. Don't we have one?" 55 Copyright © 2002 by MO Media. You have been licensed one copy of this document for personal use only. Any other reproduction or redistribution is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved. B: "No. The meeting's tomorrow. I guess Bill got his wires crossed." get out of hand: become out of control; become badly managed. "Your absences are getting out of hand, Bob. You'd better do something quickly to improve the situation if you want to keep your job." Get real!: Be realistic! / Don't be naive. A: "I'm going to Las Vegas. I know I'll win a lot of money!" B: "Get real! You'll probably lose a lot of money!" get up and go: energy. "I'm really tired. I don't have any get up and go." give someone a hand (1): help someone. "I can't do this alone. Can you give me a hand?" give someone a hand (2): applaud (to show respect or appreciation for someone/something). "Dave's done a wonderful job with The ESL Café on the Web. Let's give him a hand!" a (real) go-getter: a (very) ambitious, hard-working person. "I'm not surprised that Jean finished before anyone else. She's a real go-getter." go with the flow: take things as they come. "There's no need to worry. Everything will be OK if you just go with the flow." grab a bite: get something to eat. "I'm really hungry. Would you like to grab a bite with me?" 56 Copyright © 2002 by MO Media. You have been licensed one copy of this document for personal use only. Any other reproduction or redistribution is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved. green: inexperienced. "I don't think you can depend on Jack to do that job by himself. He's too green." had ('d) better: be obliged to; should (strong). "You'd better leave soon. If you don't, you'll miss your bus." hassle (noun): a troublesome situation; something troublesome that interrupts one's normal routine. "I know it's a hassle to complete this form now, but Mr. Rogers needs it in his office by the end of the day." hard feelings: anger; animosity; bitter feelings. A: "I'm sorry that Jim got the job instead of you." B: "I have no hard feelings toward him; I know that he had stronger qualifications." hard-headed: stubborn; inflexible; unwilling to change. "I don't think Julie will change her mind. She's pretty hard-headed." hassle (verb): annoy; bother; interrupt one's normal routine. "If you'd stop hassling me, I might get this finished on time!" have one's hands full: be extremely busy. A: "Will you be able to help us this afternoon?" B: "I'm afraid not. I'll have my hands full trying to finish my research paper." have/has ('ve/'s) got: have/has. "Dave's got a son whose name is Benjamin and a daughter whose name is Shannon." have something down pat: know/understand something completely and thoroughly. 57 Copyright © 2002 by MO Media. You have been licensed one copy of this document for personal use only. Any other reproduction or redistribution is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved. "I know I did well on the test. I had all the material down pat." head honcho: person in charge; top boss. "Dave's the head honcho of the ESL Cafe on the Web." hit the books: study. "I wish I could go to the movies, but I've got to hit the books." hit the hay: go to bed; go to sleep. "It's late, so I guess I'll hit the hay." hit the sack: go to bed. "I'm really tired. I think I'll hit the sack." How come?: Why? (statement word order). "How come you weren't at the party?" if I had my druthers: if I could do what I wanted/preferred. "If I had my druthers, I'd stay home from work today." in over one's head: in a situation that is too much / too difficult for one to manage. "Do you have time to help me? I thought I could do this myself, but I'm afraid I'm in over my head. I just can't handle things alone." inside out: with the inner part on the outside and the outer part on the inside. "Why are you wearing your tee shirt inside out?" in stock: in supply and available to buy / sell. 58 Copyright © 2002 by MO Media. You have been licensed one copy of this document for personal use only. Any other reproduction or redistribution is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved. "I'm sorry, but we just sold our last pair of hiking boots. If you come back at the end of the week, however, we should have some more in stock. in the black: profitable; not showing a financial loss. "What did you do to increase profit and eliminate losses? We've been in the black for two months in a row." in the red: unprofitable; showing a financial loss. "We have to do something to increase profit and decrease losses. We've been in the red for two months in a row." in time: not late. "I thought I was going to be late for my flight, but it was delayed, so I was still in time." jump all over someone: severely criticize / find fault with someone. A: "What's wrong with Joe?" B: "He's feeling bad because his boss jumped all over him this morning." jump the gun: do something before it's time to do it. A: "How did Marsha know about the party? It was supposed to be a surprise." B: "Chuck jumped the gun. Without thinking, he said, 'I'm bringing the cake at your party; I hope you like it!" jump to conclusions: decide something too quickly and without thinking about it or considering all the facts. A: "Angela just doesn't like me. She won't even say hello." B: "You're jumping to conclusions. Actually, she's very shy." junk mail: unsolicited mail (usually advertisements for something you're not interested in). 59 Copyright © 2002 by MO Media. You have been licensed one copy of this document for personal use only. Any other reproduction or redistribution is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.